Iranian human rights lawyer sentenced to 11 years in jail

Human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh has been found 'guilty of acting against national security'. Her husband told reporters Monday that she has been sentenced to 11 years in prison and banned from practising law for 20 years.

AFP - Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been sentenced to 11 years in jail and banned for 20 years from working as an attorney and leaving the country, her husband told AFP on Monday.

"They told my wife's lawyer yesterday that she has been sentenced to 11 years in jail and banned for 20 years from working as a lawyer and leaving Iran," Reza Khandan said.

"It is so shocking," he said.

He said Sotoudeh, who has been in jail since September, was found guilty of acting against national security, propaganda against the regime and membership of the Human Rights Defenders' Centre, a rights group headed by Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.

The accusations were levelled against Sotoudeh, mother of two, mainly over interviews with foreign-based media about her clients jailed after Iran's disputed June 2009 presidential election, Khandan said.